The Image In The Mirror
by Angel1876
Summary: I can see you, here with me. I'm not looking into a mirror, there's simply a glass window between us. Oneshot.


I smile at you, and you return it as I reach out a hand to press softly against yours. Funny, your skin is smooth and cold, I don't remember your hand feeling quite like this. But I won't worry about it. We're finally together, and that's what counts.

"I've missed you, sister."

"And I you, brother."

"I'm so happy these long years are finally over. I was so very lonely while you were gone."

_It'd been a bright, sunny day, fifteen years ago. The day she'd left, they'd been in the play room. He'd taken apart a helpless dragonfly while she spoke soft words to him._

The memory flutters into my mind, and I can feel wetness press into my eyes. I can see tears gather in yours, and I put my other hand against the glass, wanting nothing more than to hold you. But I can't. This is only a mirror, you're not really...

No! You are there! I can see you, you're right in front of me. This isn't a mirror, it is a glass window that separates us. You're here, _you're here._

"What was it like, to sleep for so long? Did you dream of me?"

"Constantly, every moment of my confinement. I longed for the day I could come out and see you."

_The two sat together in his room. He'd rushed to wake her in the middle of the night to show her the journal he'd found in a secret room. They'd fumed at what they'd found, furious at what they saw as their fathers betrayal. They'd get him back, if it was the last thing they did. She'd been working on a virus. He'd promised to help her at any cost._

I squirm a little, uncomfortable in these new cloths. I try to ignore it, but I've never worn anything like this before.

"Alexia, we'll have so much fun together now that you're up. I've thought of several new games we could play, and I think you'll love them."

_He'd laughed as they chased each other through the large mansion. It had been raining, and they'd been forced to play inside. They didn't care that all the adults gave them disapproving looks. As far as either had been concerned, they were the only two in the entire place._

I squirm again, and I move to scratch a rather bothersome itch caused by the way the cloth is rubbing against my skin. I pause as you mimic the action.

"I think I'd prefer to stay here and spend some time just talking with you, Alfred. It's been so long...

_"Why?" he'd asked angrily, "Why do you want to leave me? Am I that stupid you'd never want to see me again?"_

_"I love you." she'd purred gently, "And it is nothing that you did or didn't do. Please understand, I must do this."_

_"Why...?"_

I lean my forehead against yours, and shiver slightly at how cold the mirror, the _window_, was.

"I want to hold you, Alexia. Alexia..."

_"Alexia..." he'd whispered, gasping for breath as he pulled his bleeding body closer to her, "You're finally awake...Alexia..." he reached for her, but the wounds had taken their toll. With a final moan, he collapsed to the stairs in front of her. His heart stopped before she'd even realized what had happened._

No...No! I shake my head, repeating the word again and again in my mind. You weren't dead. _You. Were. Not. Dead._ You were right here, standing in front of me, smiling in that innocent way of yours. You were here, _and I did not wait fifteen years just to watch you die in front of me._

"I want to hold you too, Alfred..." my voice cracked as tears finally ran down my face.

_She'd held his unmoving body close to her, and gently ran her fingers through his hair. There were two other people there. A male and a female. She'd growled softly to herself as her plants rushed to topple the vehicle they'd been escaping in. This was their fault. They would pay dearly._

I pressed myself into the m-window, as if I could shove myself through the glass and pull you back through.

"They hurt you." I whisper despairingly, "They hurt you, so I tried to hurt them. The man, Steve, is dead. I couldn't get Claire. I tried, so hard, but I couldn't. I'm so sorry, brother." I sobbed, the sound hallow in my ears.

"D-don't cry, s-sister." I try to continue to imitate your voice even though my breakdown, "I, I'm here. I..."

_"Alexia? Are you awake? I had a bad dream..."_

_"Alexia! Found you!"_

_"Alexia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."_

_"Alexia, I found a secret room! Can I borrow your gem? I think I need it to get inside."_

_"Alexia...you're finally awake..."_

I can't take it, _I can't take it!_ I collapse to the ground, into the pile of blond hair that I'd cut off. I hold your red jacket tighter against me, and press my face into my arms. The fabric is smooth against my face, and it still smells like you. This only makes me cry harder, and the cloth quickly grows wet. I want so badly to believe the lie, that my own image that stares back at me with tears in it's eyes is you. But it's _not._ It's a mirror, only a mirror. You aren't here, you're in the cryo chamber room, _dead_ and _rotting_, and _there's nothing I can do to change it._

You aren't there, and you'll never be there again. And it's my fault. And I want to track down that miserable bitch and rip her apart piece by piece while she screams herself horse, but I can't. I can't, because I don't know how to get off this retched island. The boats don't come anymore, the planes don't come anymore, and even with the virus coursing in my veins I don't think I can make it if I swam.

I curl up and whimper, the sobs finally coming to an end, and I look back up at the mirror, sadness griping my heart. I love you, I miss you, I need you. Even T-Veronica hadn't been worth losing you, and I wished, how I wished that I'd never even discovered it. I swallow thickly, and my voice comes out so very quiet, and yet it sounds so very loud in the empty room.

"There was a friendly, but naive king, who wed a very nasty queen. The king was loved, but the queen was feared..."


End file.
